A-10 Rookie of the Year Aaron Bray |
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2006 Charlotte 49ers Baseball Season By the Numbers
June 15, 2006
Charlotte, N.C. - The 2006 Charlotte 49ers Baseball team had one of the best seasons in school history, setting a number of school records and numerous other notable accomplishments along the way.
NOTABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND AWARDS
• Senior Mike Ambrose became the program's first-ever First Team Academic All-American, and the third Academic All-American overall for Charlotte Baseball. (Steve Wagoner was a second-team national choice twice). Ambrose advanced to the national ballot by virtue of being a First Team Academic All-District III selection.
• Third baseman Aaron Bray became the second Rookie of the Year award winner in program history.
• Nine different players earned All-Atlantic 10 honors (first, second, honorable mention and all-rookie teams), the most in school history. The school-record 1998 team (43 wins) had eight players honored by Conference USA. Mike Ambrose (1st), Spencer Steedley (1st), Cory Lane (2nd), Chris Taylor (2nd), O'Brien Taylor (2nd), Aaron Bray (2nd, All-Rookie), Derek McDaid (Hon. Mention), Adam Mills (Hon. Mention) and Kyle Pfirrman (All-Rookie) were all honored by the A-10 coaches.
• Mike Ambrose and Spencer Steedley became the first 49ers to earn first-team all-conference honors since John Maine (New York Mets) was C-USA Pitcher of the Year in 2001.
• The program extended to 16 straight years its streak of having at least one player honored by their conference (1991-06). Charlotte has now won 74 All-Conference awards in 28 seasons, including 54 in Coach Loren Hibbs' 14 seasons with the Niners.
• Head coach Loren Hibbs logged career win No. 400 at Charlotte, with a 14-3 win over Virginia Tech on May 16.
• The 49ers won three Player of the Week awards (Mike Ambrose twice, Spencer Steedley once), and seven Rookie of the Week awards (Bray five times, Pfirrman and Parks once each).
• 18 baseball student-athletes achieved a GPA of 3.0 or better for the spring in-season semester.
SEASON WIN-LOSS RECORD
• 35 wins is tied as the third-highest total in school history. The 1986 team was 35-25. In 1995 the team was 36-21, while the school-record 1998 team was 43-19.
• The team's winning percentage of .634 (35-20-1) is third in school history behind only 1998 (.694) and 1989 (32-16-1, .663).
• The team's 18 Atlantic 10 wins is the second-most league wins in school history, behind only 1998 (19-8) in terms of sheer win number. The 2006 league record of 18-9 (.667) is behind only 1994 (Metro 12-5, .706) and 1998 (.704).
• The team's 28-8 (.778) home record is behind only 1998 (29-8, .784) in terms of total home wins and home winning percentage.
• The 2006 team's eight-game winning streak (Feb. 24-Mar. 8) ranks as the third-longest in school history. The 2000 team started the season 11-0 for the longest streak in school history. The 2006 eight-gamer matches an eight-game streak during the 1990 season and an eight-game streak in the 1998 season. That same 1998 team won nine games in a row in the middle of the season, in addition to their later eight-game streak, en route to 43 wins that year.
• The 2006 team was, at a variety of times, ahead of the school-record best start to a season. The 14-4 start to the 2006 season was the best 18-game start in school history. This team also had the best start through games 23 (16-7), 24 (17-7), 25 (18-7), 26 (18-8), 27 (19-8), 28 (20-8), 29 (21-8), 30 (21-8-1), 31 (21-9-1), 32 (22-9-1), 33 (22-10-1), 35 (23-11-1), and 42 (29-12-1).
• The 2006 team also tied the best start through 19 (14-5), 22 (15-7), 38 (25-12-1), 39 (26-12-1), 40 (27-12-1), 41 (28-12-1), 43 (29-13-1).
SCHOOL RECORDS - INDIVIDUAL
• Derek McDaid's 2.45 ERA is the new school record for pitchers with over 100 innings pitched (McDaid had 102 2/3). That breaks the previous mark of 2.94, set by All-American Tim Collie in 1995.
• Erik Walker added 7 more saves this season, bringing his school-record total to 26 in his four-year career. He holds the single-season record with 12 in 2005.
• Walker set the new school record for appearances, making 104 over his four-year career. The previous record was 95 by Terry Hill (1984-86).
• Both junior Cory Lane and freshman Aaron Bray had a school-record eight at-bats in a win over Indiana on February 26, 2006, tying the school record set by Kevin Ayers vs. Jacksonville on March 25, 1989.
• Junior Spencer Steedley (2/12/06), senior Mike Ambrose (2/24/06), and Cory Lane (4/4/06) became the 11th, 12th and 13th players in school history to have a school-record three doubles in one game.
• Sophomore John Stallings tied the school record with five walks against Canisius on February 18, becoming just the third player in school history to accomplish that feat and the first to do it since Gerald Parr in 1998.
• Steedley broke the school's record for sacrifice flies in a season, with eight in 2006. Ambrose tied the previous school record with 7 this season.
SCHOOL RECORDS - TEAM
• The 49ers beat out four triples against Cleveland State on March 4, breaking the previous school record of 3, which had been done six times. Cory Lane, Aaron Bray, Chris Taylor and Chris Lane all tripled in that 18-3 win.
• The 49ers successfully executed five sacrifice bunts in a 14-inning win over Indiana on February 26, breaking the previous school mark of 3 that had been done several times.
• The 49ers drove in runs with four sacrifice flys vs. Siena on March 11, tying the school record that had been set February 8, 1998 vs. Morehead State.
• The 49ers went to the 14th inning in a win over Indiana on February 26, tying the school record that had been done twice previously.
• Including the final 24 games of last season, and 56 more this year, the 49ers have not been shut out in a school-record 80 straight games and will carry that streak into the start of 2007. The previous-best consecutive non-shutout run was 76 games from 1997-1998.
• The 49ers had 46 sacrifice hits for the second year in a row, tying the school record.
• The 49ers drove in runs via 47 different sacrifice flys, smashing the previous school record of 37 set by the 1998 squad.
• The 49ers pitching staff issued just 143 walks in 56 games this season, smashing the previous-low school record of 166 in 1984 (49 games).
• The squad did hit 75 batters, though, breaking the previous mark of 61 (1996 & 2000).
OTHER NOTABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS - INDIVIDUAL
• Of all pitchers in the nation that did not give up a home run all year, Derek McDaid pitched the most innings (102 2/3).
• Both junior Cory Lane and redshirt sophomore O'Brien Taylor had five hits in a game this season, becoming the first players to do that since Brian Scafe vs. TCU (5/10/03). The school record is six hits in a game.
• Both senior Derek McDaid and junior Adam Mills ended the season with five complete games, a feat no pitcher accomplished in 2004 or 2005.
• Chris Taylor opened the season on a 17-game hitting streak (February 12-March 11 Game 2), which overlapped with and was later surpassed by Aaron Bray's 18-game hitting streak (Feb. 18-Mar.18). The school record is 33 games by All-American James Matan in 1998.
• Freshman Aaron Bray, the A-10 Rookie of the Year, reached base safely (via hit or walk) in a team-best 54 of 56 games. The first time he failed to reach base was May 13 at Duquesne, a string of 48 straight games to open his collegiate career.
• Senior Mike Ambrose raised his career average at Charlotte to .345 (155 for 449), placing him ninth on the school's career batting average list. He made 110 consecutive starts in two years with the Niners, never missing a game.
• Ambrose and Cory Lane each had six triples in 2006, putting them in a five-way tie for the sixth-best single-season total in school history.
• Steedley's total of 13 home runs this season was just one away from being an all-time top five single-season performance. It is the eighth-best performance in school history.
• Steedley's 63 RBI total ranks sixth all-time on the school's single-season list.
• Chris Lane's total of 11 sacrifice bunts this season ranks as the third-best performance in school history.
• Adam Mills' 17 starts this season is tied for fifth-most in a single season.
• Mills' 111 strikeouts this season stand as the fourth-best single-season total in school history.
• Mills walked just 19 while striking out 111 this season. That ratio of 5.84-to-1 puts him second in the nation among the NCAA's top 100 strikeout leaders.
• Mills added eight wins this season to give him 18 in his career. That ties him for seventh all-time.
• Mills has 230 career strikeouts now, good for sixth on the school's all-time list. The record is 409, with second place being 322.
• Mills has 267 innings pitched, good for seventh on the all-time list.
• Erik Walker's 7 saves are tied as the fourth-best single-season total in school history.
• Matt Landphair made 19 appearances this season, giving him 78 for his career and tying him with Tim Collie for fourth all-time.
• With six more this season, Cory Lane has 19 triples in three seasons with the Niners. That is third all-time, behind only Joey Anderson (24, 1993-96) and Randy Duncan (20, 1979-82).
OTHER NOTABLE ACCOMPLISHMENTS - TEAM
• The 49ers had 271 walks this season, the most since 1998 (323) and the sixth-most all-time.
• Conversely, the 49ers struck out just 298 times this season, the lowest team total since 1992 and the first time under 347 since 1992 as well. The team's .909 BB-to-K ratio was the best since 1990 and was fifth-best all-time.
• The 49ers' team batting average of .311 was the third-highest total in school history and best since the school-record mark of .332 in 1998.
• 435 runs scored was the fourth-best total in school history and third-best per-game average (7.78).
• The 49ers advanced to the postseason for the 21st time in 28 seasons of baseball.
• The 49ers' team ERA of 3.50 was the third-best total in school history, and the first time the Niners' ERA had been under 5.03 since posting a 3.83 in 1995.
• The pitching staff's total of 408 strikeouts was fourth-best all-time and the best since 2000.
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